Return to the Kingdom of the Sweets
by Data01
Summary: Five years after the events of The Nutcracker, Clara is once again drawn into the world of The Nutcracker.


Return to the Kingdom of the Sweets

Clara Stahlbaum paused in the doorway of the grand, old house and looked around the elegant, austere foyer. Everything looked so different-no, she corrected herself, it looked exactly the same; everything felt different. It was hard to believe that five years could have changed her so much. Finishing school had transformed her into a proper young lady and two years at university had opened her eyes to the world beyond her sheltered upbringing. Since her family journeyed to the city to visit her for the holidays and she spent summers traveling with friends, she hadn't actually been home in a long time. Her father was too ill to make the journey to the city this year and, truth be told, Clara had been looking forward to returning to her childhood home. If she hadn't received her mother's note about the change in plans, she would have written home to suggest spending the holiday there. Her sleep had been haunted lately, disturbing in a way yet not frighteningly so. She had been dreaming of her nutcracker, the strangely delightful gift from Herr Drosselmeyer ten years before and the odd dream that it had inspired. It had been many years since she'd even thought of the old nutcracker, yet he had been on her mind incessantly as of late.

At first the house was silent, but Clara soon heard Frau Maria bustling toward the front hall. The matronly housekeeper had been running the household ever since she could remember. Dropping her bags, she eagerly accepted Frau Maria's warm embrace.

"Miss Clara, you're early. It's so good to see you," Frau Maria said. "Look how grown up you are."

"I was so anxious to get home that I took an earlier train," Clara explained. "I took a carriage from the station."

"Well, just leave the bags and I'll get one of the boys to take them upstairs," the housekeeper told her. "Your father is resting, he's doing much better; your mother is out visiting, just getting some fresh air. Meanwhile, you could probably use a cup of tea."

Moments later Clara was comfortably ensconced in the library, a roaring fire in the fireplace and a steaming cup of tea beside her. Toasty and surrounded by the comforts of home, she quickly dozed off. The dream was even more vivid this time, the beautiful Queen of the Sugar Plum Fairies leading the other sugar plum fairies in an almost frenzied dance. Clara felt drawn toward the dancers, an inexplicable urge to join them filling her.

"Clara."

Startled, she almost leaped out of the chair at her mother's voice beside her.

Frau Stahlbaum smiled gently at her daughter. "My dear, if you're that tired, perhaps you should just take a dinner tray in your room and turn in, we'll have a proper visit when you've had some rest. Do stop in and see your father, though. The doctor says he'll be able to join us downstairs for a little while so we can have a family Christmas celebration tomorrow. He's so glad you came."

After visiting briefly with her father, Clara went straight to the attic. It took a long time to find the box that she was looking for, but finally she pulled out her old nutcracker. She used the hem of her dress to wipe away the film of dust covering the brightly-colored uniform. It looked almost new in spite of more than five years tucked away in the attic. Cradling it in her arms, she took him with her to her room.

Her things had already been unpacked by one of the maids so Clara had only to change out of her traveling clothes before settling in to eat her dinner. She tried to read a book, but her thoughts kept drifting. Even writing a letter to friends back at school seemed too much of an effort. Deciding that she was simply tired from her journey, she turned in for the night. A winter storm howled outside, snow blanketing the village with fierce winds sending the white flakes swirling through the night air. Snug beneath layers of heavy blankets, Clara gazed at the nutcracker prince sitting on the bedside table. Every young man who courted her at school seemed to fall short of her memory of the dashing Prince from her adventure ten years before. She should forget him, accept the overture of marriage from one of the nice young men who had offered and settle down as her mother was constantly advising her to do. In spite of her resolve, Clara heard herself whisper goodnight to her nutcracker prince.

She must be dreaming, although it seemed that her head had barely hit the pillow before the swirl of lights startled her awake. At first she thought her nutcracker prince had returned to her and she looked eagerly toward the bedside table. Unfortunately, the old toy remained as inanimate as he'd been since she'd awoke under the Christmas tree after that beautiful dream. Looking around the room, the lights coalesced and became the ethereal form of the Queen of the Sugar Plum Fairies.

"Clara, you've come," she said, gratefully. "I've been calling to you for so long; your help is urgently needed once again."

The dreams that she'd been having-but no, this was a dream. The Kingdom of the Sweets was the fantasy of a child, the product of too many candies and treats before bed. At least that was what her mother had told her when Clara had tried to share the beautiful dream with her family that morning. Her prince was nothing more than a schoolgirl's fancy and the Queen of the Sugar Plum Fairies was not really standing at the foot of her bed at this very moment. Clara closed her eyes and burrowed deeper under the covers.

"Please," the Queen begged. "You must help, the Prince has been taken."

The softly-spoken plea stirred Clara's heart. Her prince was in trouble; she had saved his life once, he needed her so she must go again. If this was a dream, there was no harm in playing it out. She picked up her wrap and slid her feet into her slippers. The Queen reached for her hand and Clara gave it, the lights engulfing her and carrying her far from her room and the old family home. The scenery began to take on a familiar essence and the Kingdom of the Sweets gradually came into view. As they traveled, the Queen explained the situation. Ten years before, Clara had felled the Mouse King in order to save the Prince; now there was a new Mouse King who was utterly intent on conquering the Kingdom of the Sweets. He had turned some of the Sweets citizens to his dark cause and managed to capture the Prince. Everyone who had tried to save the Prince was soured by the very air in the Rancid Kingdom. Clara, because of her knowledge of their Kingdom and the purity of her kind heart, was their only hope of rescuing the Prince. If she failed, and the new Mouse King succeeded in souring the Prince, all would be lost in the Kingdom of the Sweets since the Prince could claim rulership of the kingdom and hand them over to the Mice without any hope of defending themselves.

In the Kingdom of the Sweets, the Queen gave Clara all the help she could; supplies to sustain her since there would be nothing edible once she crossed into the Rancid Kingdom and a map of the border that the Rancid Kingdom shared with the Kingdom of the Sweets. Looking at the crudely-drawn map with the warnings about crossing that border, Clara was reminded of the old line 'past there be dragons'. She folded up the map, devoutly hoping that there weren't really dragons there, and filled her pockets with the sweet goodies and flasks of juice that the Queen provided.

Her journey to the border of the Kingdom of the Sweets was uneventful, fairies and other denizens of the land came out to wish her well on her quest. Their situation was well-known throughout the kingdom and everyone knew that their lives depended on the success of this human. As she approached the border, the bright, cheery surroundings stopped; the line between the two kingdoms looked like the literal difference between day and night. Clara stopped and looked back at the beauty of the Kingdom of the Sweets, and checked her pockets for the supplies. The map would do her no good from this point on since no one from the Kingdom of the Sweets could enter the Rancid Kingdom without becoming soured. Reluctantly, she stepped across the border and into the Rancid Kingdom. The air was dank and pungent, the atmosphere seeming to weigh her down. Walking along the dreary path, she occupied herself with memories of the beautiful dances that had been performed for her during her previous visit to the Kingdom of the Sweets. It was hard to tell when it was day and when it was night here, the shadowy kingdom seemed to exist in almost perpetual twilight with occasional periods of blackness. Wary of falling asleep, Clara stopped to rest only briefly on her way.

The castle of the Mouse King was surprisingly easy to find, it was lit up against the night sky almost like a beacon. Set in the middle of a large town, it looked as if the Mouse King were throwing a party. Clara covered herself with a dark sheet, blending into the background. She snuck into the castle through the kitchen and quickly found the stairs down to the dungeons. There was only one cell in the dungeon that was locked tight, unfortunately there were also two guards with the most rancorous expressions that she had ever seen. Slumping against the wall of the dungeon, she felt a sense of hopelessness begin to seep through her. She pulled a flask of lemonade from her pocket and took a drink, letting the cool liquid soothe her. As she put the cap back on the bottle, something occurred to her; if people from the Kingdom of the Sweets were soured by the environment in the Rancid Kingdom, could it work both ways? Pulling out two gumdrops, she sprinkled a little dirt from the floor to cover their sugary nature and faked an old woman's hobble along the corridor toward the guards.

"From the party, I thought you should share in the celebration," she cackled, holding out the gumdrops.

Her heart was beating so hard she thought they certainly must know what she was up to. Fortunately, the guards seemed interested only in what she was offering them, snatching the gumdrops rudely and gulping them down. Practically crowing with delight when the gumdrops had the desired effect, she dropped the sheet and asked in her sweetest voice, "May I please have the keys to this cell, kind sirs?"

Clara could barely fit the key in the door with her hands shaking so badly, but finally she opened the door to reveal her prince. He looked worn, haggard, harder than he'd been before. She rushed to him, embracing him in relief that he was unharmed. In her enthusiasm, she kissed him and a spark flickered between them for an instant. When she pulled away, he was once again the prince she'd remembered.

"My Clara, you have rescued me once again," he whispered softly.

Growling from outside the cell alerted them that the effect of the gumdrops had worn off. Quickly, the prince struck the guards, dragging them into the cell and locking the door. Clara led him to the stairwell, the escape seeming to take an eternity, every second she expected to hear shouts of alarm that would trap them in the castle. They somehow managed to elude discovery and Clara was actually happy to flee into the darkness surrounding the castle. She shared her supplies with him, the sweet juice and tarts restoring his strength after so much time in that bitterly awful place. As a child, her feelings had been that of admiration and awe; as a woman, she found that her feelings had grown and she wished that she could stay with him forever. In spite of the dismal land that they traveled through, she relished every moment, every soft laugh and warm smile that they shared.

The journey was a contradiction in perspectives. On the way into Rancid Kingdom she had been facing the unknown and fearing the worst for her prince, which made every step feel like a mile. Fleeing with the prince she feared that the next second would bring shouts of discovery from the Mouse King's army yet the miles seemed to pass by too quickly. They were forced to stay close to the road because of the thorny underbrush and several times they shinnied up towering, black trees to avoid being seen by search parties. The Mouse King must have known that the prince would be trying to get to the border along the shortest possible route and had what seemed like his entire kingdom searching every inch of that area. They made some concessions to the searchers, taking a slightly longer route, but they couldn't remain in Rancid Kingdom much longer. Once their supply of sweets ran out, they would be vulnerable to the effects of the very air around them.

The sight of the border, the bright sunshine lighting up the Kingdom of the Sweets was a relief. They were safe. All along the road from the border to the palace, once again the denizens all came out but this time it was to greet the prince and thank Clara for her service. Word had already reached the Queen of Clara's success so that there was a joyous celebration already underway when Clara and the prince entered the palace. Once again, Clara was breathless at the elaborate, beautiful and graceful performances. The adventure of the past few days soon caught up with her, however, and her eyes began drifting closed, her head dropping to rest on the prince's shoulder.

"It is time for you to go now, my sweet Clara," he muttered. Laying a soft kiss on her forehead, he helped her to stand.

"No," she replied drowsily. "I want to stay with you."

The prince tilted her chin up, drawing her gaze to his. "That is not possible, you do not belong here. You must return to your world."

She started to protest, but her prince silenced her with a kiss, a kiss that melted any resistance to whatever he asked of her.

Clara opened her eyes, startled at the cool air on her face. She was back in her room, in her bed just as she'd been when the Queen of the Sugar Plum Fairies had first appeared.

"Good morning, Clara, and Merry Christmas. Did you sleep well?" Frau Maria was opening the drapes at the window to let in the morning light.

A disappointed sigh escaped her lips, it had all been nothing more than another Christmas Eve fantasy. "I was having the most wonderful dream, Frau Maria. I'm sorry it's over."

"Well, your parents are waiting for you downstairs and your brother arrived just an hour ago. They're at the breakfast table now, hurry or that brother of yours will eat all the jam," Frau Maria warned, heading for the door.

Clara quickly dressed, pausing to caress her nutcracker prince on the bedside table and whisper a wistful Merry Christmas. Putting on a forced smile to hide the wave of loneliness that her dream left in its absence, she closed the bedroom door behind her and started down to breakfast. She was on the stairs when she heard a knock at the front door. Frau Maria hurried in to open it, muttering in annoyance about visitors so early on Christmas morning. When Maria opened the door, Clara stared, speechless for an instant, at the vision standing in the doorway. With an excited squeal, she launched herself into the arms of her prince.

"My sweet Clara, did you really think I could send you away so easily?" he whispered. "You cannot stay in the Kingdom of the Sweets, but that does not mean I cannot come to you."

Herr Stahlbaum entered the foyer to see a strange man holding his daughter. "Can I help you?"

Pulling away, Clara realized that she didn't know the name of her prince. Before she could think of something to say, she heard him introduce himself.

"I have come to ask for a very precious Christmas gift from you, Herr Stahlbaum. I would very much like your daughter's hand in marriage. I am the Baron Pral de Shokolade; perhaps you've heard of my family, we're well-known for our sweets."


End file.
